The Official Site of Hunter Mahan

Tue, Mar 16th 2010, 12:39

Caddies Corner: a few thoughts on one of the best guys on tour

There are quite a few guys out here on The Tour I admire…guys I’d pay to watch play golf for various reasons. If you go watch Phil Mickelson, you are absolutely guaranteed to see a shot you haven’t seen before. J.B. Holmes or Dustin Johnson or Alvaro Quiros, at some point during the round you will see a golf ball travel farther than you previously thought possible. Paul Goydos…well, you’re just gonna laugh your ass off. But if there is one guy who amateurs could learn more from, about golf and otherwise, then that guy would be Steve Stricker, who we were lucky enough to be paired with on Saturday
this past week at Doral.

Hunter and I have a bit of a history with Strick. He was Hunter’s partner in Montreal in 2007 for three of the four partner matches at The President’s Cup, where his unbelievably calm demeanor, efficient leadership, and steely resolve took all the pressure off Hunter and allowed him to play his best in his first International team competition. Before that, though, we were witness to, in hindsight, the beginning of one of golf’s great comebacks.

It was the final round of the Shell Houston Open in 2006, and we were paired with Steve. At this point in his career, Steve had been to the mountaintop, a multiple winner, a contender in Major Championships, and now was down at the bottom. Having inexplicably lost his game for years, as I recall he was depending on sponsor’s exemptions and his past champion status to even gain entry to PGA Tour events. Hunter and Steve entered the round somewhere around 10th place, and Steve played a wonderful round, shooting 66 and finishing 3rd. It was the springboard to a revival that now has him as the 2nd ranked player in the world. In a game where success can be so elusive and fleeting, what he has done most thought impossible. Yet here he is. (We would also be paired with him in the final round of the first playoff event at Westchester, where his comeback would be completed with his first Tour Win in many years)

What is most impressive to me isn’t the fact that he was once great, lost his game, and is once again great. What is most impressive to me is the fact that Steve remained the exact same person throughout success and ordeal. Generous with his time and knowledge, extremely hard working and helpful, and in a world where we see way too much pretense, Steve is genuine to the end. What you see is what you get. He will be there with a handshake at the end of the round, sincerely happy for you if you shot 65, with absolutely no affect whatsoever. And he is always always a guy you root for, because
he deserves every bit of success that comes his way.

As far as the golf goes, the reason I say amateurs could learn more from Steve than almost everyone else out here is because he is the most economical player I have ever seen. He knows the true value of each and every shot, Thursday through Sunday. You watch him, and I don’t want this to seem like a slight, but you don’t really see him hit a single shot that has a “Wow” factor. You feel like if you were to put together a highlight reel of Steve’s career, it would be a series of 7 irons to 15 feet, pitches to 3 feet, and a boatload of putts into the center of the hole. There wouldn’t be alot of 220 yard 6 irons from fairway bunkers over water or drivers off the deck that dared the wrath of the Golf Gods, or audacious escapes from thick trees. He knows what he does well and he executes. He stays completely within the framework of what works for him at all times, and then he adds up the score at the end of the week and sees if it was good enough to beat you. More often than not it is.

You know where Strick has come back from, and just having him around is an inspiration. One of the good and great guys on Tour, and if you didn’t root for him before, you should.